http://ozarkspub.vo.llnwd.net/o37/KSMU/audio/mp3/039id-weed039-smart-phone-app-helps-farmers-homeowners-identify-common-weeds_58553.mp3
Spring is the season for many to till and plant their farms and gardens, fire up the lawnmower for the first time since last year, and start landscaping projects around the home. For those working on these outdoor projects, combating weeds can be a challenge. But as KSMU’s Samuel Crowe reports, experts from the University of Missouri Extension have created a new smartphone app that helps farmers and homeowners identify common weeds and control them effectively.
The smart phone app is called ID Weeds, and it launched last December. Kevin Bradley is an associate professor of plant sciences at the University of Missouri in Columbia. He developed the app with the help from a programming and software development team. The information is based on Bradley’s online weed identification database he’s established using science, text and photographs.
Bradley says that each year, farmers spend more money in weed prevention than anything else. Weeds steal vital nutrients from crops, and make harvesting difficult.
“Obviously the first step in that process is identifying what you have. You’ve got to know your enemy, and that’s what this is for. It was designed first and foremost for the agricultural audience, and a lot of others are using it as well,” Bradley said.
Bradley says there have been over 20,000 downloads of the ID Weeds app on Mac devices alone since its mid-December launch.
Here’s how it works: To identify a weed, you select various traits from a number of different categories, ranging from leaf type, root system, habitat and life cycle, among others. After narrowing these characteristics down from a list of over 400, you’ll arrive at a list on only a few. You can also search for a weed by name, or view a list of weeds found throughout the Midwestern United States.
Bradley says although the app is more user friendly toward farmers, crop consultants and retailers, your average homeowner will find the app useful in weed identification as well.
“The catch is you really gotta make sure you know what you’re doing when you’re answering those questions. You can’t do something wrong, or you’ll get a wrong result,” Bradley said.
Bradley says the number one comment from the app users is “How do I kill this weed?” Bradley says he’s still working on that.
“We hope to someday put that in there with it, in our future upgrades, but it’s not as easy as it sounds, particularly in the agricultural world. It depends on where it’s growing. A homeowner, you’re going to give them different advice for control than a farmer that’s growing soybeans,” Bradley said.
Here's more information on ID Weeds.
For KSMU News, I’m Samuel Crowe.